The interlayer distance of graphene oxide (GO) in a Pd/GO composite could be tuned using cationic surfactants. The distance becomes larger when a large surfactant is used. The catalytic activity in Heck reactions dramatically improved using the surfactant-modified Pd/GO catalyst. Substrate selectivity could also be improved by adjusting the size of the surfactant to increase accessibility of substrates to the active catalytic centre.